Why the British didn’t revolt and why both their American colonists and their French rivals did is one question at the heart of Mike Rapport’s fine study. Another of his concerns is the difference in intensity between the American and French revolutions: Why was one, for all its violence, largely political, while the other was an attack not only on the monarchy but on the Roman Catholic Church and, seemingly, every form of hierarchy? To put it in more general terms: What forces account for differing degrees of upheaval when societies are in crisis? While “The Unruly City” stays rooted in the 18th century, the issues it raises are given extra urgency by today’s political climate.

On this week’s podcast, Rapport talks about “The Unruly City”; Dan Egan discusses “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes”; Alexandra Alter has news from the literary world; and Gregory Cowles, Parul Sehgal and John Williams on what people are reading. Pamela Paul is the host.

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